Chris Rickleton

A call for Central Asian defense cooperation made by Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev has been applauded in Azerbaijan and decried in Russia, but experts argue it may be more a continuation of Kazakhstan's post-Ukraine diplomatic posturing than anything concrete.

The story of a schoolgirl in the southern city of Qyzylorda being sold into prostitution for months by her classmates has stunned Kazakhs. Police have arrested four minors, but activists say the problem goes far deeper than that.

Many prominent ethnic Kazakh intellectuals found themselves caught in China's multiyear suppression of Muslim and Turkic communities in Xinjiang. After initially speaking out, their relatives in Kazakhstan are now too scared to discuss their plight.

Emotional public discussions on Kazakhstan's plans to build a nuclear power plant have ended, teeing up a referendum this fall. For many opponents, the main threat is of a worst-case-scenario disaster, although others oppose what they see as Russia's inevitable involvement in the project.

President Sadyr Japarov has blamed "short-sighted politicians" and their supporters for a wave of criticism over the decision to allow three famous Russians perform at a concert marking Kyrgyz independence. Opponents say the artists are supportive of Moscow's war in Ukraine and that their arrival is evidence of "dependence" on Russia.

ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Members of a Facebook group that opposes expensive recycling fees imposed by the Kazakh government, especially those on cars and other vehicles, have had their accounts on the platform either removed or restricted, the group said, attributing the moves to government pressure.

Having starred at the Summer Olympics in Paris, Central Asia’s boxers find themselves caught between the embrace of a Russian-led governing body kicked out of the Olympic movement and their own potential exclusion from the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

After Kazakh activists convicted of violating vague "extremism" laws are released from jail, they often find it impossible to live normal lives. Their struggles to find work and access basic services are due to being on a "financing extremism" list. Rights watchdog Human Rights Watch has called on the government to lift these "arbitrary" restrictions.

The fifth World Nomad Games is currently being held in Kazakhstan's Astana. But the celebration of nomadic culture showcasing competitors nearly 90 different countries originated in Kyrgyzstan, proving that "a small country without resources can do something global."

Kok-boru and kokpar are full-blooded equestrian sports played by around a dozen countries, including, for the last eight years, the United States. But the two countries that meet in the final are always the same.